Jared Gordon jokes that he is waiting “to put the pads on and play in net.”

That is the only position the former Bangor High School hockey star has yet to play for Jim Tortorella’s Colby College Mules.

The versatile sophomore had been a high-scoring forward his entire career until Tortorella moved him back to defense at the mid-point of last season.

And that carried over to this season. Gordon figures he has been a defenseman in 10 of the 12 games he has played in so far this season.

But he will be a left winger this weekend when Colby entertains Wesleyan and Trinity.

He said he enjoys playing different positions.

“It’s cool. I never know what to expect when I go to the locker room,” said Gordon. “Sometimes it gets a little difficult because we run so many systems and we’re very structured. Each player has an assignment.

“It keeps me on my toes. It keeps hockey interesting,” added Gordon.

“Jared is versatile and he does a good job [wherever he plays],” said Tortorella who decided to try him on defense last season because they had an overload of good forwards.

“And Jared is a real good skater,” said Tortorella.

Gordon remembers his first taste of defense.

“He put me in the lineup on defense on a Thursday and we had a game on Friday,” recalled Gordon.

“The only thing I hoped was that there wouldn’t be any two-on-ones or one-on-ones. And there turned out to be a dozen of both,” laughed Gordon.

He says the irony of the situation is he was a “horrible defensive player” at Bangor High.

“I didn’t worry about anything at Bangor High other than my toe drag or dekes [fakes],” said Gordon. “Becoming a defenseman has made me a much better all-around player.”

He said you get a “different view of the game on defense.”

“You’re more like a quarterback. The play is in front of you. The forwards are more like wide receivers,” said Gordon who added that defensemen don’t receive the accolades reserved for high-scoring forwards.

“Your goal on defense is to not make mistakes,” said Gordon.

Gordon played three years at Bangor High before transferring to St. Paul’s [Prep] School in Concord, N.H.

After two years there, he spent a season playing for the Exeter Snow Devils in the Eastern Junior Hockey League.

He roomed with former John Bapst of Bangor and St. Dom’s of Lewiston standout Derek Damon, who is playing for the University of Maine.

“Every time Derek scores, I send him an email [to congratulate him]. It’s nice to see him doing well. That’s his cup of tea. He’s a damned good player,” said Gordon.

Gordon said his year in Exeter was beneficial because he suddenly found himself in the “real world” working to pay the rent and for groceries and gas money.

“I grew up,” said Gordon, who was recruited by Colby and has found it to be a good fit for him.

“Coach [Tortorella] was a pretty good speaker for the school and the guys I knew at Colby were all really nice. I figured that’s where I should go,” said the 6-foot-1, 185-pound son of Lennie and Lynn Gordon.

He had three goals and two assists in 20 games last season and has four assists in his 12 games to date this season.

“I’m a better all-around player than I was a year ago, especially in the defensive zone,” said Gordon who admitted that he had to adjust to the intense nature of college athletics.

“When you go to the rink in college, you’ve got to work every day. You can’t take a day off. There are battles for spots in the lineup and if you have a few bad practices, you could find yourself out of the lineup,” said Gordon.

Tortorella said Gordon has been a welcome addition to the program.

“One of his biggest strengths is his character. He’s a really good kid. He works so hard,” said Tortorella who added that Gordon has supplied him with a physical presence along the blue line.

“He likes to play the body,” said Tortorella, who is seeking a little more consistency from Gordon and added that he sometimes lacks confidence.

“No, it’s not a lack of confidence. It’s just a mind thing. I’m pretty hard on myself. There’s a greater margin of error on defense,” said Gordon. “I’ve had some good games and some bad games. That’s the nature of the beast.”

In high school, Gordon suffered from a heart ailment known as WPW (Wolff-Parkinson-White) which can lead to a dangerously high heart rate. He had a surgical procedure and he said it hasn’t been a problem since.

The Mules, NESCAC semifinalists a year ago, are currently 10-3-1 and ranked 14th in the country in the US College Hockey Online poll.

“The team is real talented and we’re looking to go further than we did a year ago,” said Gordon whose individual goals including putting “more points on the board.

“I try to keep it fun,” added Gordon.